The Ilkley Gazette is to make a star appearance in a Dutch Murder mystery!

The newspaper will make its on-stage debut in an Agatha Christie adaptation at the cheese-famous town of Edam this autumn.

The surprise development follows an approach from amateur dramatic group d'Ye, who contacted the Gazette to ask for help with a crucial prop.

In the play, A Murder is Announced, the crime is revealed through the pages of a local newspaper, the Chipping Cleghorn Gazette.

A stickler for detail, d'Ye actor Erik Vlugt was determined to find the next best thing for his production, as he explained from Holland.

"The decision to choose the Ilkley Gazette was a lucky one," he said, "It came up on a Google Internet search! Actually, several names came up but Ilkley was the closest to my expectations. "I'd been searching on the 'Net to see if there was a Chipping Cleghorn Gazette but no such luck, just as I suspected.

"So I told my director I would mail another paper to ask for a copy, thus renaming the Chipping Cleghorn into, as we now know, the Ilkley Gazette!"

A couple of pristine copies of the newspaper were dispatched to Holland following the unusual request - one for rehearsals and the other for the show itself.

The decision has sparked a new interest in Ilkley among d'Ye's 55-strong troupe, who have been finding out more about the town by visiting websites on the area.

The theatre group has adapted the works of several British playwrights during its 30-year history, including a selection of Shakespearean dramas and Agatha Christie thrillers.

The Ilkley-influenced - hopefully not too cheesey - performance of A Murder is Announced will be performed in Edam this November.